McMurphy and Me

The staff at the ward depicted in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, especially Nurse Ratched, have a great deal of power over the patients, controlling everything they do. The narrator, Bromden, constantly mentions the extreme power that Nurse Ratched, AKA the Big Nurse, wields over the entire ward. “The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine.” (25) Although I’ve never experienced anything like the Combine, I definitely have felt overly restricted at times in my life, particularly in school environments (having to ask someone if you’re allowed to go to the bathroom feels really wrong if you think about it, especially if they say no). In many situations that are restrictive over some people, there are always others who don’t even notice. This idea is represented well in the book.

Although “they’ve made life look very pleasant with paint and decorations and chrome bathroom fixtures,” the Combine is not as pleasant for patients as it seems to outsiders. (111) I thought it was ironic that the public relations man followed this up by saying, “A man that would want to run away from a place as nice as this, why, there’d be something wrong with him,” because it’s a mental institution, and each one of the men there has “something wrong with him.” Naturally, when an able-bodied and strong-willed patient arrived at the ward named McMurphy, he made it his mission to rebel against the staff and rally the other patients to join him. The way McMurphy acts in the face of a controlled environment is how I’d like to think I’d act, but I’m more of a non-confrontational person and I wouldn’t stand up to the authority figures in the ward anywhere near as much as he does.

The first instance of McMurphy’s plans to rebel took the form of a bet with the other Acutes. “‘Any of you sharpies here willing to take my five bucks that says that I can get the best of that woman- before the week’s up- without her getting the best of me? One week, and if I don’t have her to where she don’t know whether to shit or go blind, the bet is yours.’” (66) I’ve certainly tried to get under someone’s skin before, but never someone who had that level of power over me. I thought his bet was a little crazy at first, but after all, McMurphy is a gambler, and he didn’t have anything better to do with his time. As it turned out, he succeeded in ruffling the nurse’s feathers so much that some of the other patients joined him once they saw how much fun he was having upsetting her. When they tried to watch the World Series game on TV and the nurse shut it off, they all watched a blank TV screen just to push her buttons. “‘You men- Stop this. Stop!’” (125) This reminds me of something my sister and I would have done when we were little to make our mom mad if she’d done something we deemed unfair.

The men never would’ve been trying to watch that World Series game in the first place if it wasn’t for McMurphy’s passion and his demand for not one but two votes to move TV hours to the time the games would be on. It hadn’t been easy, but he’d “inspired” enough people to vote his way that he finally got a majority vote. “‘One of you guys, for cryin’ out loud! This is where you get the edge, don’t you see that? We have to do this- or we’re whipped!’” (123) The edge McMurphy spoke of means the upper hand on the staff, especially the big nurse. He’d already caused a scene bringing the matter to a vote once, nevermind twice, and his failure to get a majority vote either time wouldn’t bode well for his future in the ward. Luckily for him, Bromden’s vote made 21 votes and he got his adjusted TV time. Unfortunately, the nurse was angry at him and turned the TV off, so it was all for nothing. This voting scene, especially the first one, reminded me of all the times I’ve been in the minority vote for something I wanted. I usually just go along with it and don’t make a big deal out of not getting my way, but this makes me think that I should push harder for something if I feel really passionate about it.

Finally, one area where I do see a similarity between me and McMurphy is our stubbornness. When asked by Frederickson, a fellow patient, how he’d bust out of the ward, McMurphy replied “Well, I guess I could knock the mesh outa one of these windows with a chair when and if I took a notion…” (107) and when told a chair wouldn’t do the job, he attempted to pick up an impossibly heavy control panel. He tried so hard to lift it that “There’s blood on the levers where he tore his hands.” (110) I’m guilty of committing way too hard to stay true to my word or make myself look good. I don’t think I’ve physically injured myself because of it, but I’ll go pretty far out of my way in hopes of proving a point.